The great thing about events like the America's Cup is that even if they flop, the long-term payoff for the host city can be rewarding.

I refer not to the balance sheet at San Francisco's City Hall, but to civic improvements that in this case might not otherwise occur.

These projects include a new cruise terminal and a more pedestrian-friendly Fisherman's Wharf. While they've been on the city's to-do list for ages, they became priorities in response to the hype surrounding a regatta that could draw hundreds of thousands of viewers for the final batch of high-profile yacht races on the bay.

We'll see what happens now that only four yachts will compete in the series being held from July to September. Mayor Ed Lee's administration is scrambling to help raise $32 million so taxpayers won't be stuck with the tab for city services related to the event. But three infrastructure projects already are leaving their mark in ways that are long overdue.

The cruise terminal is the most visible change, a long box of aluminum and glass that for now sits behind fences along the south edge of Pier 27.

Elegant and lean

Named the James R. Herman Cruise Terminal after a former union leader, the structure will be handed off next week to the regatta operators. In November, the Port of San Francisco will resume control and add the interior touches necessary for the security and servicing of cruise ships that disgorge as many as 4,000 passengers onto the gangplank.

There's no flash in the design by KMD Architects and Pfau Long Architecture. Instead we get a work of intricate, elegant craft - a streamlined modern take on the functional waterfront of old.

The materials are simple: steel structural columns and beams, corrugated aluminum panels, large panes of glass. What counts is how they're assembled. The shed is arranged as two parallel bars of space, one pushed 30 feet closer to the Embarcadero than the other. The glass panes on one bar line up horizontally, then vertically on the other. The corrugated panels come in three patterns that add visual interest without being fussy.

The roofline adds the lone flourish with angled forms that extend beyond the building edges, rippling above each bar like two placid silver waves. The one facing into the pier is supported by columns that are single lines of steel, 40 feet tall.

If the exterior is restrained - "we aimed for something just beyond an industrial shed," architect Peter Pfau says - the interior is downright spare. Most of the ground floor is reserved for baggage storage and pickup. Upstairs is passenger screening, the waiting lounge and the customs zone. The latter space can be sealed off when the building is used for functions such as spillovers from visiting conventions.

The $46 million construction budget for the current phase, cobbled together from various sources, dictated off-the-shelf material for much of the exterior. The basic dimensions of the structure correspond to already existing piles beneath the pier. In each case, the limitations tightened the design.

Wide sidewalks on way

Another civic upgrade is still in progress, the makeover of two blocks of Jefferson Street.

The stretch between Hyde and Jones streets is being redone to favor pedestrians, with a 30-foot-wide sidewalk on the north side that will invite outdoor dining. The south side keeps the mature trees but removes such obstructions as utility boxes.

The roadway between has been narrowed from 37 t0 24 feet, with one lane of traffic each way and a speed limit of 15 mph.

The Planning Department has made the case for such changes since 2008. Now, crews overseen by the Department of Public Works are installing curbs and getting ready to pour asphalt and sidewalk concrete for a $5 million installation scheduled to be complete by June.

Benches with a view

One other bit of infrastructure is already in place and easy to miss.

It's a 35-foot-wide sidewalk with an open railing at water's edge and 57 benches, most set back to back so you can watch the wharf scene as well as savor an open stretch of water between Pier 39 to the east and the seafood restaurants to the west. This sounds obvious until you consider what was there before: a parking lot.

The port already had set aside funds for a project it conceived in 2003. But officials say that the final design was done with large events in mind.

Improvements of this nature should happen as a matter of course in a city as prosperous as San Francisco. Instead, they often languish because resources are diverted to more vocal constituencies, or they stall because interest groups squabble endlessly over the details.

Cup a galvanizing force

Then comes a galvanizing force such as the America's Cup. It frees up money for basics like an improved Jefferson Street, long the shoddy main drag of the tourist zone. The tight schedule makes the permitting process for the cruise terminal a bureaucratic priority.

Not only is the cruise terminal the first major building on the city's waterfront since AT&T Park, next year it will be joined by a landscaped public place along the Embarcadero and walkways around the pier with revelatory views. Long after the America's Cup fuss is forgotten, we'll still be enjoying both.